~Akina's P.O.V.~ 

"Grrr!!! Rahhh!!!" I struggle against my restraints after suddenly waking up somewhere dark and dimly lit. 

Someone had grabbed me and Sasuke, and the mysterious part about it was that I couldn't sense their chakra. It's like they showed up out of nowhere. 

"You really are persistent. You instantly woke up after putting you to sleep. It's a good thing I had time to restrain you before you could wake up." I snap my head towards the voice. I've never heard that voice before. Who's there? "As I said," I glare at the person who comes into the dim light. "It's good to see you again, Akina." 

"Grrr!!!" I growl at him. 

"My, look at you. You've lost so much of your sanity that you don't know how to speak, except for to say one word. But, it's fine. You can still understand what I'm saying. There's nothing to worry about, Darling." I stop growling, but continue to glare at the man after hearing that word. "I think it's about time we met face to face for real, don't you?" 

The man walks over to me and kneels in front of me. He's the same Akatsuki member Ritsu and I ran into earlier. He's also the one who delivered the medicine. 

"I brought you here because there's something I need to tell you. I think it's about time you knew the truth." My eyes slightly widen when I see his visible eye behind his mask. That eye... I've seen that particular eye before...! He's...! 

~Flashback~ 

I heavily cough while I am sitting up from my bed. My mother hands me medicine to ease my coughing a little as she sadly frowned. "Here, sweetie. Take this." I take the small cup and drink the medicine, but cough again. "It's no use, Ryuku. She's getting worse..." 

"I know... We've tried everything we can. None of the medicine is working! Dammit!" Father throws a fit and smashes a bottle of another type of medicine onto the floor. "At this rate, she's going to..." 

"Don't say that! There has to be another way!" Mother rushes over to Father and holds his arm.

"Look at her, Masumi! Does she look like she's getting better!? We've tried every possible medicine, but one none of it is working!" Father looks at me with tears in his eyes. 

"It's okay, Dad..." I weakly smile in a hoarse voice. "You two are trying your best... It's fine..." 

"No, it's not fine." Father walks over to me and kneels in front of my futon. 

"Am I going to die?..." 

"No, baby. You're just very sick, okay? But, don't worry. You're going to be okay. Do you hear me? Daddy's going to do everything in his power to make you well again. Do you understand?" 

I cough again and cover my mouth, before looking at my dad again. "I can't...hear what you're saying..." I tell him this. His eyes widen and so does mother when they hear me say this. 

"Akina...!" I read my mother's lips as she hugs me tightly while crying. Later that day, Father left to go into the village to buy more medicine. But, when it was nighttime, Father came back with a man wearing a cloak and a mask. 

The man in the mask walks over to me and kneels in front of futon, then gently places his hand on my head. My eyesight began to blur and I drop my head, then look back at the man, trying to get a good look at him. 

The man pulls away and tells my parent's something, but I couldn't hear nor read their lips. I saw my parents nod and dad walks over to me, and gently gets me out of my futon, then taken to a room. 

It was only me and the man in the room after, what looked like, he told my parents to leave the room. The man set up candles and placed them around me. While he did this, I found myself gettting weaker to the point I couldn't sit on my knees anymore. 

I began to lean to the side, almost falling onto the floor, but he man caught me and gently placed me in a sitting position. He backed away from me and began to do hand signs, but I couldn't hear what he was saying. 

I tried to focus my vision on what he was doing, but my eyesight started to turn black. I close, then open my eyes again to feel a hand on my forehead. My vision was focusing in and out, and the last thing I saw before he completed his task was a glowing red eye with black markings around it. 

I felt a strong sting on my forehead, causing me to scream. I held my forehead as I continued to scream. But, as I screamed, I felt burning on my left cheek. 

My hair had changed from pink to purple as black horns were on my forehead when I looked into the mirror. There was also a marking on my left cheek. I was feeling a lot better. I could see, hear, and speak clearly again. The man offered me his hand to help me stand up, and I took it. When we walked out of my room to show my parents that I was better. But, they were shocked at the results. 

"Mommy!" I smile and run over to her, hugging her waist tightly. "I'm all better now!" 

"A-Akina...?! Is that...really you? Oh, God! What happened to you?!" Mother looked horrified, but she held me close to her, as if she didn't want to let go of me.

"Mommy?" I question her. She takes me to the deck and asks me how I'm feeling or if I feel any better while checking my forehead for a fever. But, the terrified look on her face stayed the same, but a small smile was on her face. I couldn't tell if she was happy or scared. 

"She isn't human! That thing isn't our daughter! Get out of here! Just get out!"  I heard my dad yell at the man. Mother covered my ears so I wouldn't have hear. When I turned my head to look at my father and the man, I watched the man leave, but he gave me one last look, and I could still see his red eye. 

~Present~ 

"You... That was you... You...did this to me! It was you!?" I scream at him, managing the words I could say, while baring my teeth. "Who...are you?!" 

The Akatsuki member took off his mask, revealing his face to me, as he said, "My name is Madara Uchiha, and I saved you from your illness. You were at the brink of death if it weren't for me. Don't think I've forgotten about you after all these years, Akina. Because I've been watching you this whole time. I never left your side. Who do you think ordered the Akatsuki to come after you? I wanted to keep you safe." 

"It...couldn't have been you! You're...lying!" 

"I'm not lying. I could never lie to you, Akina. I saw how desperate your father was to save you. He made quite the commotion when he buying medicine. I willingly offered to help your parents with your situation. I saved you. I made you healthy again." 

"You turned me into a monster! A demon!" I snap my jaws at him. 

"It was the only way. Your illness was killing you faster than the medicine could help you. But, I didn't know the outcome of it. That mark on your face is a seal to control your urges, but your father didn't allow me to finish what I started. In the end, I never thought you would kill your own parents. I saw what they were going to do to you." 

"They were going to kill me..." I mutter and look at the ground. 

"Yes, they were. But they were also going to kill themselves afterwards, so they could join you in the afterlife. But, you didn't stop to think about that, did you? Surely you heard them talking about it." 

"We have to do this, Masumi...! For our daughter's sake! She'll be killed if someone finds her like this! We can't keep her inside forever! Someone will eventually find out." 

"There has to be another way, Ryuku! We can't do this! She's our daughter! We can't do this to her!" 

"Do you want to be with our her or not?!... Tie her hands behind her back and I'll do the rest, alright? Soon... Soon we will be together again..." 

My eyes widen when I remember their words. "No... That can't be... They were going to..." I started to tear up. This whole time I was convinced that they were trying to kill me, when this whole time they were trying to bring us together... And I... I... "AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!" I cry out and thrash around. 

That's not it! That can't be right! That has to be wrong! 

"I killed them... My own parents... I killed them both...! It's my fault... I'm the reason why I've been alone..." I whimper and hang my head. 

"No, Akina. You were never alone." Madara pulls me into his chest and cuts the ropes that were tied behind my back. "I have always been by your side, and I am never going to leave you again. You have me. My sweet Darling." 

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{It's 3 in the morning. I gotta get some sleep. See you all next time in the next chapter!}